What is the Past Simple Tense?

The past simple tense is used to describe actions or states that happened and finished in the past. We often use it with time expressions like yesterday, last week, or two days ago.

Examples:

• Jessica called me last night.
• We went to the park last weekend.

Regular Verbs

To form the past simple with regular verbs, we add -ed to the base form of the verb. This rule applies to most verbs.

Examples:

• I played football yesterday.
• She watched a movie last night.

Spelling Rules for Regular Verbs

• If a verb ends in e, just add d (e.g., like → liked).
• If a verb ends in a single consonant after a vowel, double the consonant and add -ed (e.g., stop → stopped).
• If a verb ends in y preceded by a consonant, change y to i and add -ed (e.g., cry → cried).

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the regular pattern of adding -ed. Instead, their past simple forms are unique and must be memorized.

Examples:

• He went to the store.
• They ate dinner at 8 PM.

Common Irregular Verbs

When to Use the Past Simple

1. Past Finished Actions

Use the past simple to talk about actions or states that are completely finished.

Example: Rachel was very happy with her results.

2. Past Repeated Actions

Use the past simple to describe habits or actions that happened repeatedly in the past.

Example: When I was a child, I played football every day.

• Be – was/were
  Example: We were at the library yesterday.
• Begin – began
  Example: He began his new job last week.
• Break – broke
  Example: She broke her favorite vase this morning.
• Bring – brought
  Example: I brought a cake to the party.
• Buy – bought
  Example: They bought a new house last month.
• Do – did
  Example: I did my homework before dinner.
• Drink – drank
  Example: She drank all the lemonade in the fridge.
• Drive – drove
  Example: We drove to the countryside for a picnic.
• Eat – ate
  Example: He ate the last slice of pizza.
• Find – found
  Example: She found her lost keys under the sofa.
• Fly – flew
  Example: We flew to Paris for the holiday.
• Forget – forgot
  Example: I forgot my wallet at home.
• Get – got
  Example: He got a promotion at work.
• Give – gave
  Example: She gave her friend a thoughtful gift.
• Go – went
  Example: They went to the museum last weekend.
• Have – had
  Example: We had a lovely picnic by the lake.
• Know – knew
  Example: I knew the answer to the question.
• Lose – lost
  Example: He lost his phone on the train.
• Make – made
  Example: She made delicious cookies for us.
• Meet – met
  Example: We met at a coffee shop yesterday.
• Pay – paid
  Example: He paid the bill at the restaurant.
• Put – put
  Example: She put the groceries on the counter.
• Read – read
  Example: I read an interesting article online.
• Run – ran
  Example: They ran to catch the bus.
• Say – said
  Example: She said goodbye before leaving.
• See – saw
  Example: We saw a beautiful sunset on the beach.
• Sell – sold
  Example: He sold his car last year.
• Send – sent
  Example: I sent an email to my teacher.
• Sing – sang
  Example: She sang her favorite song at the concert.
• Sit – sat
  Example: We sat by the fireplace to stay warm.
• Sleep – slept
  Example: He slept for eight hours last night.
• Speak – spoke
  Example: She spoke with the manager about her concerns.
• Spend – spent
  Example: They spent the weekend at the lake.
• Swim – swam
  Example: He swam in the pool every morning.
• Take – took
  Example: She took a photo of the beautiful scenery.
• Teach – taught
  Example: He taught his students how to solve the math problem.
• Tell – told
  Example: I told him to be careful.
• Think – thought
  Example: She thought about the question carefully.
• Understand – understood
  Example: He finally understood the instructions.
• Wear – wore
  Example: She wore a red dress to the party.
• Win – won
  Example: They won the championship game.
• Write – wrote
  Example: He wrote a letter to his grandmother.